The major aim is to explore in depth the development and planning of a Digestive Disease Core Center in the Longwood area of the Harvard medical complex. The component institutions consist of the Beth Israel Hospital, the Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the Harvard Medical School, in which currently reside strong investigative programs of a broad scope. It is anticipated that the advent of a Digestive Disease Center would greatly potentiate the activities of these research programs, both in the sphere of clinical research and in the investigation of basic pathophysiological processes relevant to digestive diseases. During the planning phase of approximately one year, the following projects are to be undertaken by a planning group consisting of the Principal Investigator and representatives of each of the constituent organizations: 1) inter and intra-institutional planning to integrate more meaningfully a broad spectrum of digestive disease related activities; 2) to plan the establishment of specialized resources and facilities; 3) to survey the feasibility of identifying appropriate patient populations, special opportunities and special problems; 4) to utilize appropriate consultants to help develop plans for Center activities, core resources, and administration; 5) to identify additional investigators both in clinical and basic science departments whose expertise will contribute to digestive diseases research and whose collaborative interaction with current investigators will broaden the scope of the research effort in a digestive disease score center; 6) explore the feasibility of interaction with other institutions in the Boston metropolitan area including other Harvard University clinical units and both basic and clinical investigators at Tufts University Medical School and Boston University Medical School.